Deck and wall forming board equipment for trailer bodies and means for locking the boards to the bodies



W. F. SIMPKINS DECK AND WALL FORMING BOARD EQUIPMENT June 17, 1958 FOR TRAILER BODIES AND MEANS FOR LOCKING THE BOARDS TO THE BODIES 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 18, 1956 KN A W m F f m @z W m Ono/00000600000 MN m June 17, 1958 w. F. SIMPKINS 2,839,326

DECK AND WALL FORMING BOARD EQUIPMENT FOR TRAILER BODIES AND MEANS FOR LOCKING THE BOARDS TO THE BODIES Filed Dec. 18, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 17, 1958 w. F. SIMPKINS 2,839,326

DECK AND WALL FORMING BOARD EQUIPMENT FOR TRAILER BODIES AND MEANS FOR LOCKING THE BOARDS TO THE BODIES Filed Dec. 18, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Wolfer F. .Simpk/ns INVENTOR.

BY WMEM I Fig.7

June 17, 1958 w. F. SIMPKINS 2,839,326

DECK AND WALL FORMING BOARD EQUIPMENT FOR TRAILER BODIES AND MEANS FOR LOCKING THE BOARDS TO THE BODIES Filed Dec. 18. 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 .J 1 1 Ai TQ J w mi Q FL M6 mnQm \LF mm mm km mm 3 kn 2,839,326 Patented June 17, 1958 DECK AND WALL FORMING BOARD EQUIP- MENT FOR TRAILER BODIES AND MEANS FOR LOCKING THE BOARDS TO THE BODIES Walter F. Simpkins, .lonesboro, Ark., assignor of twentyfive percent to Frank Snellgrove, Jonesboro, ten percent to Arvel L. Wall, Bay, twenty-one and two-thirds percent to George P. Simpkins, Jonesboro, and twenty-one and two-thirds percent to Mary Elizabeth Thompson, Marked Tree, Ark.

Application December 18, 1956, Serial No. 629,008

8 Claims. (Cl. 296-24) My invention relates to improvements in deck and wall equipment for slat sided stake bodies of trailer trucks.

By way of premise decks of such trucks are usually formed of cross boards slidable into position on side rails in the truck body without adequate fasteners so that they bounce and rattle, and when a deck load has been delivered and a return load is desired not requiring a deck, the planks must be removed and deposited on the bed of the body where they are useless, interfere with reloading and are otherwise objectionable.

The primary object of my invention is to provide deck board equipment for such trailer bodies, including means for easily mounting the boards in the body to form a deck which will not rattle or bounce and is easily and quickly removed, board by board, together with means for mounting the boards in the sides and on the tail gate of the body to form Walls in the body, providing with the bed of the body a bin for transporting grain and other loose material.

Another object is to provide interlocking meanson the trailer body for securing the boards in either deck or wall forming position.

Still another object is to accomplish the foregoing by means of simple, inexpensive construction.

Other and subordinate objects will presently appear when the following description and claims are read with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary view in plan of the boards formed into a deck in a slat sided stake body truck according to a preferred embodiment of my invention;

Figure 2 is a view in longitudinal, vertical section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a View in vertical cross section taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary, enlarged view in vertical cross section taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary view in horizontal section taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 2;

Figure 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary, exploded perspective view of one of the boards and the interlocking means on the board and trailer body for securing the board in deck forming position;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary view in plan illustrating the boards in wall forming position in the trailer body;

Figure 8 is a fragmentary view in vertical, longitudinal section of the same taken on the line 8-8 of Figure 7;

Figure 9 is a view in vertical cross section taken on the line 9-9 of Figure 7;

Figure 10 is an enlarged, fragmentary view in vertical cross section taken on the line 1010 of Figure 8; Figure 11 is an enlarged, fragmentary view in hori 'zontal section taken on the line 11-11 of Figure 8;

Figure i2 is an enlarged, fragmentary view in perspective partly in section illustrating part of the interlocking means for securing the boards in wall forming position;

Figure 13 is a fragmentary view in plan partly broken away and shown in section of a modified embodiment of my invention;

Figure 14 is a fragmentary view in vertical, longitudinal section taken on the line 14-14 of Figure 13;

Figure 15 is an enlarged, fragmentary View in vertical, transverse section taken on the line 15--15 of Figure 14; and

Figure 16 is a fragmentary view in perspective of a locking slide bar of the modified embodiment.

Referring by numerals to the drawings and first to Figures 1 to 12, wherein the preferred embodiment of my invention has been illustrated as embodied in a conventional trailer truck body 1 mounted on a chassis designated generally by the numeral 2, the body including a bed 3, slat sides 5 with vertical outside stakes 7 supporting horizontal slats 9, a semicircular solid metal front end Wall 11 and a slat tail gate 13 mounted in the conventional manner, not shown.

According to my invention, a pair of angle iron track bars 15 are bolted, as at 16, in the body 1 in horizontal parallel relation to opposite sides 5 preferably against slats 9 of said sides and which extend from the end wall 11 to within a short distance from the tail gate 13 and at a suitable height from the bed 3 for supporting like deck and wall forming boards 17 crosswise to form a deck in said body'S;

A semicircular angle bar 19 is suitably secured as by welding, not shown, horizontally in the end wall 11 coplanar with the track bars 15 and supports a semicircular front deck section 21 of graduated cross boards 23 bolted thereto, as at 25, and supplementing the deck formed by the boards 17.

Means for interlocking the boards 17 and. track bars 15 to removably secure said boards 17 in place comprises the following. A pair of depending headed studs 27 with enlarged heads 29 lowermost is provided on each end of each board 17 and these studs are spaced in the pairs transversely of said boards. Longitudinally spaced pairs of key hole slots 31 are provided in the track bars 15 and extend longitudinally of said track bars with smaller ends 33 foremost. The slots 31 are spaced apart in the pairs so that the pairs of studs 27 of the boards 1'7 may be inserted downwardly therethrough and the boards 17 then slid forwardly on the track bars 15 to engage the heads 29 under the narrow ends 33 of the slots 31 to interlock the boards 17 with said track bars 15.

Each board 17 is provided in each end between and in line with the studs 27 with pin receiving apertures 37 for receiving a pair of locking pins 39 for a purpose presently seen.

In forming the deck, the graduated boards 23 are first bolted in place and then the deck is completed by positioning the boards 17 on the track bars 15 successively and interlocking the same with the track bars 15 beginning at the supplemental deck section 21. The locking pins 39 are then inserted in the pin receiving apertures 37 of the rearmost board 17 and through a pair of pin receiving apertures 40 in the track bars 15 provided between the last pair of key hole slots 31 of said track rails 15, all as best shown in Figures 1 and 2. Thus, the rearmost board 17 at the tail gate 13 is locked to the track bars 15 and locks the boards forwardly thereof in place.

Upon removal of the locking pins 3%, the rearmost board 17 may be slid rearwardly on the track bars 15 from interlocked position to register the heads 29 of its studs 27 with the larger ends of the associated slots 31 and then lifted upwardly for removal. This unlocks the other boards 17 which may then be removed successively in the same manner as the rearmost one. As will be seen, the boards 17 are interchangeable in forming the deck, and because each is provided with the apertures 37, each may be locked by the locking pins 39 in rearmost position.

The boards 17 are so proportioned as regards length and width and relative to the length of the sides and the distance between said sides that a given number of boards 17, for instance, twenty-one, as shown, may be used as deck boards in the manner described to extend from the supplemental deck section 21 to the tail gate 13, and, as shown in Figures 7, 8, 9, and ll, all of the boards 17 may be used to form in the body 1 sectional side walls 41 on the sides 5 and an end wall section 43 on the tail gate 13, all of the sections comprising longitudinal boards 17 stacked on longitudinal edges, there being the same number of boards in each section, three in this instance, as best shown in Figure 8. The side walls 41 and the end section 43 thus form together with the bed 3, a bin for transporting grain and other loose material.

The sides 5 and tail gate 13 are provided with means interlocking with the studs 27 to removably secure the boards in wall forming position. This means comprises vertical keeper bars 45 spaced longitudinally of the sides 5 and on the ends of the tail gate 13 bolted at their sides, as at 47, to slats 9 of said sides and of said tail gate 13. The keeper bars 45 are provided with key hole slots 49 vertically spaced with narrow ends 51 lowermost, as best shown in Figure 12, and arranged in vertical rows for insertion therethrough of the studs 27 in the ends of the boards ll? so that said boards may slide downwardly on the bars d5 to engage the heads 29 of the studs behind the narrow ends of the slots 49 to interlock with the keeper bars 45 for securing the boards in position. Obviously the boards 17 may be removed from wall forming position for forming the deck by lifting said boards to register the heads 29 of the studs 27 with the larger ends 51 of the slots 49 so that said boards may be lifted away from the keeper bars 45. All of the keeper bars 45 are provided with outwardly facing, vertical channels 53 to accommodate the heads 2? of said studs 27.

in the modified embodiment of the invention shown in Figures l3, l4 and 15, boards 53 having end studs 55 therein and which are supported by a track bar 57' are provided corresponding to the boards 17, studs 27 and t ck bars 15. The studs 55 depend through relatively ge openings 59 in the related track bar 57 and are interlocked with a locking slide bar 61 having elongated longitudinally extended slots 63 therein and slidably mounted on the track bar 57 by headed studs 65 extendthrough longitudinal slots 67 in the locking bar 61. The locking slide bar 61 is rearwardly slidable to overlie the heads 69 and thereby lock the boards 55 down on the track bars 57. A threaded rear end stem 71 in the locking bar at slidably extends through a rear portion 73 on the track bar 57 and is provided with a nut 75 thereon for sliding said lock bar rearwardly and locking it in locking position.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. In a truck body having a bed, sides and a tail gate, deck and wall forming equipment comprising a set of boards, interlocking means on said sides and the ends of said boards for attaching the set to said sides transversely of said body in deck forming position, and means on said sides and tail gate interlocking with the means on the ends of tie boards to attach the boards to said sides and tail gate in stacked wall forming position to provide with said bed a bin in the bottom of said body, the interlocking means first mentioned comprising a pair of horizontal bars on said sides having key hole slots therein with narrow ends facing forwardly of said body, and headed studs on the ends of the boards insertable in said slots and interlocking with said narrow ends in response to sliding of the boards on the bars.

2. In a truck body having a bed, sides and a tail gate, deck and wall forming equipment comprising a set of boards, interlocking means on said sides and the ends of said boards for attaching the set to said sides transversely of said body in deck forming position, and means on said sides and tail gate interlocking with the means on the ends of the boards to attach the boards to said sides and tail gate in stacked wall forming position to provide with said bed a bin in the bottom of said body, the second mentioned means comprising vertical bars on said sides and tail gate having key hole slots therein with narrow ends lowermost, said first mentioned means comprising headed studs on said boards interlocking with said narrow ends in response to downward sliding of the boards on said upright bars.

3. In a truck body having a bed, sides and a tail gate, deck and wall forming equipment comprising a set of boards, interlocking means on said sides and the ends of said boards for attaching the set to said sides transversely of said body in deck forming position, and means on said sides and tail gate interlocking with the means on the ends of the boards to attach the boards to said sides and tail gate in stacked wall forming position to provide with said bed a bin in the bottom of said body, said boards being proportioned in length and width relative to the spacing between said sides and the width of the tail gate to form a deck substantially coextensive with the length of said sides or a three-section wall on each side and a-singlesection wall on said tail gate, said sections and single-section wall comprising a like number of stacked boards.

4. The combination of claim 3, the second mentioned means comprising vertical bars on said sides having vertical slots, said first mentioned means comprising headed studs on said boards insertable in said slots and interlocking therewith in response to sliding of the boards downwardly on the upright bars.

5. In a truck body having sides, a pair of horizontal track bars on said sides having key hole slots therein with narrow ends facing forwardly of said body, a set of deck boards having ends slidable on said bars and provided with headed studs insertable in said slots and interlocked withthe narrow ends of the key hole slots in response to sliding of the boards forwardly.

6. In a truck body having sides, a pair of horizontal track bars on said sides having apertures therein, a set of deck boards having ends slidable on said bars and having headed studs thereon insertable through said apertures, and a locking bar slidably mounted on each track bar having slots therein through which said studs extend for sliding of the locking bars relative to said studs, said locking bars interlocking with said heads in response to sliding of said locking bars.

7. In a truck body having a bed, sides and a tail gate, on said boards and on said sides and tail gate for secura pair of horizontal track bars on said sides, an odd numing said boards in wall forming position. bered set of boards proportio::ed in length and width relative to the width of said body and tail gate to form a deck References Cited in the file of this patent of cross boards on said bars substantially coextensive in 5 length with said sides, or a three-section wall on each side UNITED STATES PATENTS and a single-section wall on said tail gate forming with 565,835 Burke et al Aug. 11, 1896 said bed a bin, said sections and single-wall section each 876,774 Crepar Jan. 14, 1908 comprising a like number of stacked boards. 1,171,402 Rohlfing Feb. 8, 1916 8. The combination of claim 7, and interlocking means 10 2,091,869 McCurdy Aug. 31, 1937 

